Several houses burned down in an elite cottage community

In the Engels district of the Saratov region, a fire occurred in the elite cottage community "Park House", located in the village of Shumeika. The fire occurred late Tuesday evening; seven houses were destroyed by fire in just an hour. Law enforcement and supervisory authorities are inclined to believe that there was no arson. Observers believe that the rapid spread of the fire could have occurred due to non-compliance by the developer and service organization with fire safety measures.

According to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia for the Saratov Region, the fire in the dacha non-profit partnership (DNP) “Park House” in the village of Shumeika, Engels district, Saratov region, began at about 10 p.m. According to official data, the fire area was 672 square meters. meters. Fire departments consisting of 58 personnel and 15 pieces of equipment arrived at the scene of the emergency. After about 1.5 hours, the fire was extinguished. According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, there were no deaths or injuries as a result of the fire.

As one of the local residents said, the residents of Park House could not wait for firefighters for almost an hour, during which time several houses managed to completely burn out. Due to the fact that the houses were located almost close to each other, the fire easily spread from one townhouse to another. People waited on the street for the arrival of the Ministry of Emergency Situations with the things they had managed to collect. According to eyewitnesses, the fire started in house No. 5. Already at night, investigators arrived at the scene of the emergency and interviewed the victims.

DNP "Park House" is considered an elite cottage village on the left bank of the Volga, located on the territory of the closed country club "Assembly". The cost per square meter, depending on the quality of finishing, reaches 80–90 thousand rubles. The market price of one townhouse is up to 14 million rubles. The Chairman of the Board of the Park House Non-profit Partnership is Sergei Kapustin. He also acts as the owner of the registered in the village. Shumeika StroyBytServis-2011 LLC, which manages the Assembly. Stanislav Starodumov and Vitaly Lagransky are also among the co-founders of the partnership. The country club has a yacht club, restaurants, and hotels.

Yesterday, the administration of the Assambleya tourist entertainment complex published an official apology to residents and guests of the shopping center. “According to preliminary information, the fire started from the private territory of our residents and spread to neighboring buildings. All residents whose property was damaged were allocated places in the hotel complex and provided with all the necessary conditions,” the Assembly reported.

The Assembly shopping and entertainment center clarified that the flames engulfed the roofs and interior decoration of the houses. The cause of the incident, as reported in the complex, is being clarified. “This is a great grief,” says the head of the complex, Stanislav Starodumov, “the grief should be shared: participation, kind words, material assistance, support from people. The employees and management of the Assembly tourist entertainment complex are doing everything possible to help people in trouble.” The TRC could not specify the amount of damage. Considering the cost of cottages, it can be up to 100 million rubles. It is also unknown whether the burned houses were insured.

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Saratov Region reported that the regional department of the State Fire Safety Inspectorate is studying the causes of the fire and the version of arson is not being considered at the moment. According to preliminary information, the fire started in house No. 5 on the attic floor, where no one was present at the time of the fire. The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Saratov Region told Kommersant that the reasons are now being established; the department could not yet provide preliminary data. According to Kommersant sources, the fire could have occurred due to finishing work being carried out in the house that caught fire.

General Director of Volzhsky Pride LLC (Volzhsky Pride cottage community) Alexander Goryachev believes that such a large-scale tragedy could have occurred due to non-compliance with fire safety rules by the organization servicing the village. “Firstly, the houses are very close to each other. Secondly, there were probably no fire hydrants. If they were there, it would be possible to start extinguishing the fire before the firefighters arrived,” says Mr. Goryachev. He called the situation, in which seven houses burned down in almost an hour, abnormal.

Sergei Petunin

Fire walked through Park House